


real world

by tzushi



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Bae Ending, F/F, Fluff, Panic Attacks, Road Trip, bae over bay, its 3am baby, just two girlfriends comforting each other, mentions of mark jefferson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 20:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20279695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tzushi/pseuds/tzushi
Summary: “You’re okay. We’re both okay.” It was a lie- they both knew that. They weren’t okay, they probably would never be ‘okay’ again. They were far from it. But fuck if Chloe was going to say that.In which Max has a panic attack and Chloe is there to comfort her.





	real world

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warning for panic attacks and anxiety! please be careful if you do get triggered by either of those things

Today had been a good day, Chloe had thought. Her and Max had made a considerable distance driving today, getting further and further away from the hellhole they had left to the storm only three weeks ago, and they had stopped in a small town just outside of Buffalo. Max sold some of her old polaroid photos to a cheap, slightly rundown gallery and made a considerable amount of money that would support them along their drive, and _(most importantly, Chloe thought,)_ Max finally picked up her camera after weeks of neglect. She didn’t take a picture- she didn’t even hold it for longer than 10 seconds- but she picked it up, examined it, and put it in her backpack. No hesitation. And that was a big step for her!

Chloe was absolutely radiant today, happily tapping on her steering wheel as she waited in the McDonalds drive-through line. Max had wanted to stay home while Chloe went out, saying she just wanted to rest for a bit; it didn’t help that it was eleven at night, so she was most definitely exhausted. Chloe didn’t mind, she was happy to go out alone. After spending every waking second with Max, she was glad to spend some time by herself- nothing wrong with Max, she just wanted to have some alone time every now and then.

It had been a rough couple of weeks: they were both exhausted from their continuous driving, not having anywhere to stay, they were both broke, understandably, and they had nowhere to say yet. Well, that was technically a lie. As soon as Max’s parents had heard about the storm, they blew up Max’s phone with desperate calls and texts to make sure she was alive. When they learned she was, they desperately wanted Max to come back to Seattle and move back home, with Chloe invited as well. Max did not want to do that quite yet. And frankly, neither did Chloe.

They insisted they stayed out on the road- it was like their own therapy. As much as they wanted a permanent place to call home, even if it was just for a few months, they weren’t ready yet. They wanted to recover from the shit they had gone through before settling down again. They didn’t want to worry others with their issues, and Max had a fear of staying in one place for too long, all thanks to the storm. Besides, they were most comfortable with only each other.

Before she knew it, Chloe was driving back down the empty road to the motel they were staying in, a bag of takeout in the empty seat beside her, loudly singing along the the static-sounding rock song playing on the radio. It didn’t take too long to get back to the motel, only about ten minutes or so. After loudly singing _(but it was more so shouting with a tiny ounce of rhythm)_ her heart out, she pulled into a spot and parked the rundown truck.

With a wide grin, Chloe stepped out of the car, taking the takeout bag with her. She closed and locked the doors and walked back to their motel room with a skip in her step.

Unlocking the door, she cheerfully called out, “Maximilian, I’m back~!” Upon the lack of response, she glanced up, looking around the room. Max was nowhere to be seen. Her stuff was still strewn about the room, the bed still made from lack of anyone laying in it.

Her eyes landed on the shut bathroom door and she let out a small sigh of relief, a breath she didn’t know she was holding in.

“Max?” she called, setting the bag down on the bed and heading to the door. There was still no response, and the water wasn’t running, so Max had to have heard her. She knocked on the door lightly. “Max? Everything okay?”

At the deafening silence, Chloe felt her heartbeat instantly jump up. Something was wrong. Was Max okay? She wouldn’t have tried anything while Chloe was gone, right? Of course she was stressed out and depressed, but she would never try to do anything, _right_?

Looking around the room once more, Chloe’s eyes landed on something on the other side of the room. Max’s phone was on the ground, screen down. The flash was turned on, lightly illuminating that small corner of the room. That set Chloe off even more.

Was Max attacked? Did someone unexpected call her phone? Chloe hoped to god that, hey! Maybe Max just saw a spider while looking under the bed, or something, so she threw her phone and ran! But obviously that was wishful thinking. It had to be more serious than that.

“Max?” she called out once more, voice strained, cracking halfway through the word. She grabbed the door handle and pulled on it, finding that it was unlocked. _(God, why didn’t she check that first?)_

Pushing the door open, Chloe’s eyes instantly landed on Max. Her small frame was huddled in the empty corner of the bathroom, body trembling, tears streaming down her face.

“Fuck, fuck, I’m so sorry,” Chloe hissed as she rushed to the girl, falling to her knees at Max’s side. “I shouldn’t have left you alone, Max. I’m sorry,” she muttered as she examined the girl for any sign of physical harm, hands gently running down Max’s skin.

“I’m... fine...” Max croaked out in between shaky gasps for air, but she clearly wasn’t and Chloe could tell.

Chloe bit her lip to prevent herself from chewing Max out for not calling her- before leaving she had repeatedly told Max to call her if anything, anything, went wrong. And it had, clearly, because here Max was, trembling and sobbing and hyperventilating on a dirty motel bathroom floor. But Max didn’t deserve to be shouted at, Chloe knew that, and besides, now definitely wasn’t the time. She would just be adding insult to injury.

So instead, she settled for, “We should get you out of here. This room is freezing cold. Let’s get you under the covers of the bed, crank up the heat and talk, yeah?”

She didn’t wait for an answer, gently scooping Max up _(had she always been this light?)_ and carrying her into the bedroom, setting her down on the firm mattress.

As soon as Max was set down against the headboard, she curled in on herself, hugging her knees to her chest. Chloe took a seat beside her, slinging her arm over the girl’s shoulders and gently pulling her closer.

“It’s alright, Max,” she softly whispered, wanting nothing more than to hug Max as tight as she could, to kiss away her tears and finally end up hiding Max away from the pain of real life. How desperately she wished they could stay in this motel room forever, never having to go back out on the road and deal with life’s shit, while they were both trying to recover from the shitstorm that they had just left behind.

“You’re okay. We’re both okay,” Chloe continued, rubbing the girl’s back. It was a lie- they both knew that. They weren’t okay, they probably would never be ‘okay’ again. They were far from it. But fuck if Chloe was going to say that, because that wouldn’t help the situation at all. “I’m here, Max. You’re here. We’re in the motel, far, far away from that shithole of a town.”

Max moved closer to Chloe, blindly reaching out with one hand to gain more contact, anything she could so ground herself. Anything to know that Chloe was there, that she was real. To know that this wasn’t some cruel nightmare.

Chloe gently took Max’s hand, placing it over the left side of her chest, before placing her own hand on top of the girl’s smaller one.

“Feel that?” she asked as she felt the pounding of her heartbeat through Max’s hand. “That’s proof. My heart is beating, so that has to mean I’m alive. I’m right beside you, and I’m never leaving. I promise.”

Max lightly nodded her head, hand trembling underneath Chloe’s.

“Follow my lead, okay?” Chloe instructed, a warm smile growing on her face when Max looked up at her with watery eyes. “When I breathe in, you breathe in. When I breathe out, you do too. Got it?”

Max managed another nod, maintaining eye contact with Chloe. They were silent for a few moments as they attempted to calm Max’s breathing. Once they had done so, Chloe began to stand up. Before she could move any further, Max desperately clutched the blue-haired girl’s arm.

“Where...?” she quietly asked, voice so quiet Chloe almost couldn’t hear her. “Please don’t leave me...”

“I’m just going to turn up the heat, okay?” she slowly explained, feeling her heart break a bit at Max’s outright panic. Trying to make the girl feel a bit better, she put on a cheeky smile. “I told you, I’m not leaving. You can’t get rid of me, Maximus!”

Max only tightened grip, deciding that she was going to come with Chloe the three steps it took to her to the heater. It was as if she feared that as soon as Chloe let go of her, she would simply disappear.

“Okay, okay, you can come,” she lightly laughed, sliding Max’s hand down from gripping her upper arm to holding Chloe’s right hand. With her left hand, she grabbed the takeout bag. They headed over to the heater, Chloe struggling to turn it up with both hands occupied, but somehow finding a way to do it. She then led Max over to the fridge to put their food inside- their appetites had disappeared, anyways.

Max quickly led them back over to the bed, wanting to sit down and just remain in Chloe’s warmth and comfort. Chloe didn’t complain.

They sat down beside each other on the bed, Max leaning her head on Chloe’s shoulder, Chloe’s arm wrapped around her waist. Max’s body still dealt with light tremors from her previous panic, so Chloe only pulled her closer.

“So...” the older slowly started, not sure if she should say anything, and if she did, not sure how to. Max seemed to know what she was going to ask, however.

“Jefferson,” was what she responded with. Chloe worriedly glanced to her, anger filling up inside her body at the mere mention of his name. “I- I was looking through my phone, and... it’s stupid, Chloe...”

“It’s not stupid,” Chloe quickly reassured her, frantically shaking her head side to side. She may not know much about anxiety and panic attacks, but she did know that whatever triggered them was not ‘stupid’. Not something to mock. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Max. I know he doesn’t bring up any good memories, but... but whatever brought that attack on isn’t anything to be taken lightly. I won’t make mock you. Promise.”

Max seemed to debate going further, not wanting to relive anything that just happened. She knew she would tell Chloe in the end, but she was glad to be given the option. Chloe was always so kind and patient in that way, not wanting to push Max, even though Chloe was known as a highly impatient person.

Letting out a small sigh, Max shut her eyes. “I was fumbling around with my phone, and I guess I accidentally turned the flashlight on somehow. I wasn’t expecting it. The flash, and the sudden brightness, it just...” she cut herself off, nervously swallowing as tears built up in her eyes again. “Next thing I knew, I had my phone flung across the room and I ran as far away from it as I could. I was- I was so scared, Chloe. It reminded me of _him._”

Chloe’s eyebrows furrowed at that. She was overcome with the urge to wrap her arms around Max and never let go, but she pushed it away. Something told her that Max would not appreciate being suffocated by hug right now, after just recovering from hyperventilating.

“He’s gone, Max,” she gently reminded her best friend/girlfriend/whatever they were _(because she desperately hoped they were more than ‘friends’)_. “He can’t do anything anymore. And I won’t let anyone else come close to that. I have to protect you, as your knight in shining armour.”

Max grew a weak smile at that. “My punk in shining band tees,” she lightly corrected with a slightly forced laugh, trying to make Chloe believe she was okay.

“Call me whatever you want, I’m still your everything,” Chloe retorted, lightly pinching Max’s cheek with her left hand. “You know you love me.”

“Of course I love you,” Max gently stated with a sudden tone of seriousness in her voice. “I let... so many people die—”

Chloe didn’t know how to cut Max off, how to stop her before she finished that sentence that would only lead to more depressed and anxiety-ridden thoughts. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She kissed Max.

In hindsight, maybe it wasn’t a great idea while the ideas of the creep Mark Jefferson were still fresh in both of their minds, but Max seemed to forget all about him in those few seconds, eyes slowly shutting as she reciprocated the kiss.

When Chloe pulled away a few seconds _(or minutes, or hours, she couldn’t tell because her head was swimming with happy thoughts)_ later, she met Max’s eyes with a stern look. “We’re not going there, Maxine,” she stated. There were still tears in Max’s eyes, ready to fall at any second, but she looked at Chloe with a look of surprise.

“Maxine...?” was the only thing she mumbled, the frown on her face widely contrasting with the sudden look of happiness in her eyes.

“We’re not thinking about _that_ tonight,” Chloe stated matter-of-factly. “Too much has already happened. From this point on, happy thoughts only.”

Max worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “But I...” she trailed off, unsure of where she was going with those words.

“You’ve got this, Maximum Ride,” Chloe cheekily smiled, ruffling the smaller girl’s brunette hair. Max let out a small laugh at that, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie.

“You read James Patterson?” she asked as she raised her eyebrows, voice still shaky and weak but laced with a hint of genuine happiness.

Chloe scoffed, crossing her arms. “You don’t need to sound so shocked about it. I _do_ read, you know,” she retorted, trying to keep a faux-angry expression her face. Still, the corner of her lips tugged up before turning into a full grin.

Max met her gaze with a knowing look and a quirked eyebrow and Chloe let out a small sigh.

“Okay, so _maybe_ I read the manga instead, but it still counts!” Chloe retorted. Max laughed in response- quiet, stifled, but genuine. The sight of her made Chloe’s heart soar, relief washing over her.

Without thinking, the blue-haired girl wrapped her arms around Max, pulling her small, frail body closer into a tight hug. The younger girl was shocked at first but she quickly relaxed into Chloe’s embrace, shutting her eyes as she returned the hug.

Letting out a small sigh, Chloe let them fall onto the bed so they were laying down. The motel room was silent, ignoring the dripping of water from the shower head and the heater that was loudly blowing warm yet weirdly smelling air into the room.

They didn’t need to talk. The silence was comfortable. They could focus on each other, on the warmth of each other, their soft breathing, their gentle, slow heartbeats. Chloe felt Max snuggle closer, burying her head in Chloe’s chest.

With gentle breaths, memories of panic attacks and terrifying teachers, friends and family that had been left behind, were forgotten and they drifted off into peaceful, nightmare-less sleep. And in those last moments of being awake, Chloe thought to herself, Hey! It would definitely take awhile- longer than that- but if they were together, than maybe they could be okay after all.

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed it or if you hated it or maybe if you didnt even read it the whole way through, i'd appreciate constructive criticism and comments <3 thank you!!


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